Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 31: Diary of a Madman Part 2
Gallows Forest, Hidden Dark Elf Village, Forbidden Realm, Clover Kingdom (Evening)
"... Explain." Astaroth spoke out. "Archangel? Time is broken? Lucifer? Just what the hell's going on?"
"This is the first I've heard of all this coming from you, commander..." Belial stuttered out in shock.
"... Stop."
In the crowd, Odin and Phenex, two of the eldest of the Dark Elves and Fallen Angels walk towards Astaroth and Claudius.
"Now boy..." Phenex counseled the troubled Fallen Angels. "No one shall judge you now. Only after."
"... Very well." Claudius sighed out. "No secret can't be kept buried in the grave forever."
In the advent of Heaven, there were the Five Archangels of Completion.
Uriel, the the Wise.
Raphael, the Healer.
Gabriel, the Messenger.
Michael, the Guardian.
And finally, the one closest to the [Origin], Lucifer, the Almighty.
The five were tasked to watch the flow of the world, as all things created grew, prospered, and returned to the earth, just as the [Origin] willed.
But, I do not know if this is was either through the will of the [Origin] or some cruel twist of fate, but one faithful day, everything changed.
A girl.
A human girl, inflicted with a fatal disease, against all odds, has cheated death.
I was to snuff out her will to live, but the fire kept burning, no matter how I tried to put it out, the girl refused to accept her fate.
I asked why.
She merely replied:
"Not giving up is why I was born."
Those words resonated with the other four, but for me, I was confused beyond why this girl would defy the will of the [Origin].
After all, it was the [Origin]'s will alone that the girl was even conceived to begin with, right?
I tried to find out whoever was responsible within out ranks was the one that cured the girl, assuming that one of the lesser angels had breached their boundaries and intervened.
But no one was responsible.
Then that human girl overcame her fate with her own hands.
The revelation that a mere mortal, who was sick and dying, had somehow defied fate that the [Origin] has ordained unto her, all in the name of gradually evolving all creation to their proper place?
... It drove me mad.
For not for the sake of a human besting an Archangel, but now Heaven's position of power has now been called to question.
Eventually, it was because of that one girl's defiance that shook Heaven itself, we begin to question our power as Angels.
I on the other hand, continued to watch the girl's actions, with every miracle she performed, from communing with mana around her, gathering disciples of differing races together, and creating [Magic], I stayed my hand.
Partly due to the fact that I tried to convince myself that this was all in the will of the [Origin]...
... With the rest of me being AFRAID of her.
By the time I decided to take action by rallying the entirety of Heaven against the girl's rampant defiance, I was too late.
She herself was at Heaven, along with her disciples, including the other four Archangels.
I was alone. Heaven itself had abandoned me.
And for the very first time in my existence, I defied.
I raged and tore apart my fellow Angels with my bare knuckles, along with the girl's disciples, ceasing all of my inhibitions so that I can rage without anything holding me back.
All for the sake... of KILLING THAT INSOLENT GIRL!
But before I can wring the life out of that whore's neck with my bare hands, Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael stop me.
... By impaling me with their swords made of [Water], [Wind], [Earth], and [Fire] respectively.
"... Why?"
None of them said a word. Not even after my lifeless body plunged towards the earth below.
Like lightning. I broke though the land and breached into the depths of Hell.
And upon being fallen to the Ninth Circle of Hell, [Treachery], the Archangel Lucifer had died.
... And Sephira, the world very first mage, ascended towards Heaven, taking the now-vacant place as the fifth Archangel.
"Holy shit..." Astaroth gasped out. "That happened to you?"
"Funny how things work out when you simply procrastinate, isn't it?" Claudius answered. "Now do you know why I tend to freak out easily when things go even slightly awry?"
"Well I for one, cannot believe that our ancestors were beguiled by a former human." Thor spat out in disgust. "Not only they've destroyed our homes, but also they had the audacity to... TAME US LIKE MERE CATTLE!?"
In rage, the Dark Elf Chieftain runs towards a nearby tree and bashes his head against the trunk while screaming like a lunatic, spilling blood down the bark's surface with each consecutive ram.
"... Harrowing revelation aside, it does paint out ancestor's legacy in a rather different light." Odin commented. "But what of the other Fallen Angels How do they play in this grand mess that seemingly, the whole world was caught up in?"
Claudius faces the elderly Dark Elf with a shaking glare.
"... You have no, fucking, idea."
[Treachery], the bottommost layer of Hell.
A chasm entrenched right above the Eighth Circle, its walls lined up with rows upon rows of blade-like teeth, constantly opening and closing, clamping down any foolish enough to try and escape.
Simply put, it was a literal maw embedded into the ground, keeping me and the other denizens captive at its murky throat.
When I first awoke, all I smelled was bile.
Bile secreted from the flesh-like walls and floors of the my new home.
Around me were [Stygians], the shadows of all of creations collective sins, the native denizens of Hell, and what the normal would define as a "Demon".
And as for my wings...
... Once pure-white arrangement of quills were now pitch black wisps, signifying my loss of status in Heaven, now as one of the Demons.
Even then, I refused to believe that I was usurped by a human upstart.
Immediately, I flew fast as I could as soon as the maw opened.
But as soon as I took flight, the maw closed between me, killing me instantly.
I open my eyes again, only to find myself at the bottom of the maw again.
... And in front of me was my dead body, now being eaten out by the [Stygian] populace.
I saw my previous body, looking like those [Stygians] while being eaten out like fresh meat, realizing that I was now one of them.
Unable to die, but forever bound in the depths of Hell below.
... Even then, I refused to yield to my fate.
So I flew up again, only for the maw to close into my body once again...
... But this time, I was only half-crushed, but right before I got crushed into fine paste as the maw between me closed in once more.
I find myself back at the bottom again, now with the other Stygians feasting upon my paste-like corpse.
But now, something felt... different about my body.
It felt... even more dense, as if my muscles were... adapting to every death I go through here.
Just to reaffirm my hypothesis, I killed myself for the third time by getting crushing between the rows of teeth once again, noticing two distinct differences this time around:
One, it took three consecutive clamps to crush my by into paste this time around.
And two, the maws closed into me faster and harder in my third attempt.
With that, I came up with this conclusion:
The [Demons] in Hell cannot be killed the same way twice, and that Hell itself was going to respond appropriately with each adaptation.
So after roughly 963 deaths, I escaped [Treachery].
... Only for the frigid winds of the Eighth Circle, [Fraud], to freeze me solid in a block of ice upon my escape, killing me once more.
My body became a little more resistant to the cold afterwards.
"Even after 963 attempts, there's more!?" Astaroth pointed out in surprise.
"Well, to be fair, Hell's hazards tend to get creative with how many ways a living being can get offed." Claudius replied. "Hell, if anything, the worst part about Hell is that you don't know how time works there. As far as I was concerned beforehand, I thought several centuries might've passed, only to be proven wrong, but that's a story for later on."
"So how does Hell work?" Sinmara asked. "What goes on in each layer?"
"... I'll keep it brief as possible."
The Ninth Circle is [Treachery], a literal maw in the earth that opens and closes on its own, and arguably, the easiest layer since it only has one, but extremely persistent hazard, that being the maw itself, which is not only partially alive, but also sapient enough to adapt like any other living being, growing accustomed to its captor's habits and actions.
The Eight Circle is [Fraud], a frozen wasteland with a perpetual blizzard that not only obscures one's vision completely, but said blizzard occasionally talks to you, feeding you misinformation or just an annoyance to one's mind, making one either take the wrong way out, or be lead around in circle, not taking into account that one is at the risk of freezing to death during their trek through this layer.
Should you come out of the Eighth, comes the Seventh Circle, [Violence], a perpetually-overgrowing forest where every living thing, from the trees, to the leaves, the fruit, the flowers, the waters, the stones, the ground you walk upon, and even the air you breathe, are trying to kill you, quick or slow, clean or messy, there's no distinction, and arguably, the most annoying layers to traverse through, with how you're most likely going to get killed every second passed.
After dealing with that annoying forest, comes the Sixth Circle, [Heresy], a vast desert with quicksands and pitfalls with super-sharp stalagmites at the bottom that can pierce through your adaptations, since impalement doesn't count as clamping, hidden practically everywhere, and even then, the surrounding heat in the desert will most likely air-fry you to jerky first.
Upon leaving the damned desert, comes the Fifth Circle, [Anger], a perpetually-stormy sea of actual blood, filled to the brim with the bodies of the fallen and the damned alike, with lighting coming down every millisecond, electrocuting the red, iron-rich waters to lethal voltages, the rain not only coming down at the velocity of ballista bolts, but are actual bolts of sharpened and partially-hardened blood, most likely to shred anyone to mincemeat should they stay out for too long.
Upon crossing the ocean, the next stop is the Fourth Circle, [Greed], a constantly shifting and moving cave system composed of gems, gold, silver, and whatever valuable mineral that's found on this earth, but all of that glitter emits out a collective gleam emitted is so bright that any newcomer will be guaranteed to go blind, and that's not counting the booby traps rigged everywhere, from pools of molten liquid gold to giant spiked boulders of crystal, gems, gold, and silver, all of that makes this layer the longest to traverse out of the nine, guaranteed to bore you to death after over 10,000 attempts of traversing, despite all the glamour and glitter.
By some miracle, shoulder you make it out of the cave, come the Third Circle, [Gluttony], a space completely devoid of gravity, without any light or darkness, and even though that makes this the easiest and the most safe of the nine layers, that's of itself is a hazard. It will drain your will to the point that all of your body's functions will cease functioning to the point of death, and if you're especially unlucky, you might end up losing some of your adaptations after your resurrection in the Ninth Circle. Make no mistake, get through it quickly as possible, or you'll suffer the consequences.
Then comes the Second Circle, [Lust], a vast, open sky where the winds blow freely in every direction possible... and by that, I mean you'll either be ripped apart in several directions or be pressed into a bloody meatball by the omnidirectional winds blowing and dancing around everywhere, and unlike other layers, it has infinite ways to kill anyone, ensuring that anyone who gets torn apart by its winds will never die the same way twice the next time they enter its skies.
Then between the Second Circle and the First...
... Is the Demon King itself.
And its the place where all the Demons finish their journey, waiting for the perpetually-silent Demon King to issue its decree, waiting for the King to wake up from its dream.
The throne itself is a sight to behold.
With the throne's seat itself being composed of [Qilphoth], the Roots of Causality itself, siphoning down the souls of the damned to covert them into [Stygians] or any other Demons that reside in Hell.
And the back railing of the throne was the gate leading to the First Circle, [Limbo], the boundary between Creation and Hell, Life and Death, Light and Darkness.
So after finishing my journey, I simply found myself in a barren wasteland where the other Demons simply did whatever they did. Gambling, fighting, eating or drinking each other, fucking, all of them were indulging in what aspect of sin that they were based off of, as the Demon King itself simply sat on its throne, dreaming, as its presence alone loomed over the other, lesser Demons, casting a titanic shadow over the wastes.
As I approached the Demon King, one of its eyes opened, looking at me.
It at that moment, that the other Demons stopped what they were doing, noticing that my presence partially awakened the Demon King.
Before I can even speak, one of its arms reached out towards me, grabbing me like a rag doll, as it brought me closer to its sole, open eye.
It only spoke out only one word.
YOU
Immediately, the gates on his throne partially opened a small gap, small enough for only me to fit through.
It shoves me through the gap, and casting me out of Hell and into the First Circle, [Limbo].
As soon as my feet hot the black ground, I sunk through like a rock on a pond.
After drowning into the void, I slowly lost consciousness, as if I was dying once again.
... But upon opening my eyes, I found myself in the world of the living.
Not only as a Demon.
But as a Demon wearing human skin and bone.
"Wait, so you're saying that you were resurrected as a human while still keeping your Demon identity?" Odin pointed out. "Just what was the Demon King planning?"
"Yeah, because right now, it's kinda making no sense for me right now." Astaroth scratched his head in befuddlement.
"... Then prepare to listen, because it's going to get even more convoluted."
As I walked upon my new surroundings, I begun to notice some... changes made while I was gone.
First, Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Jotuns, and even Angels were living together, with some of them interracially marrying each other, creating halfings everywhere.
Second, the once-primitive civilization wracked of plagues and sickness was no more, replaced by a society of extreme technological, social, spiritual, and conceptual advancement, with magic being the crux of their rapid advancement, resulting in a unified language, a harmonized world government, and a working calendar.
And finally, when I entered the central hub of advancement, a utopian metropolis built upon the very same place where I was struck down...
... Was a statue of Sephira, her disciples, and the four Archangels that DARED TO BETRAY ME, HAILING THEM AS HEROES AND FOUNDERS OF THE CACOPHONY OF A SOCIETY THAT BUILD UPON THE LEGACY KNOWN OF THEIR DEFIANCE AND BETRAYAL!
But even then, I stayed my hand.
I may be a Demon, but I was the only one that existed in the world of living.
The Demon King chose me for a reason, so I simply opted to wait for my time to strike.
I began studying how this society has grown as I watched out of sight. I gathered all kinds of information that I can learn in hopes of spiting the usurper's legacy. I steadily sowed discord and mistrust thorough playing the rumors that I became, spreading fear and panic throughout the populace, killing one living thing at a time, to remind them of their place.
And by the year of 666, on the sixth day of the sixth month, at least according to their calendar, I triggered my plan.
During this day, the world leader was visiting the central hub city to give a speech to the denizens of the city as some sort of a commemoration.
So amidst the bustling crowd, I made my way towards the podium, close to the leader as possible.
The speech began, with the human woman leader giving an impassioned speech towards the crowd.
And against all logic, I killed her.
I got up on the stage, drew out my sharpened wooden stake, and ran it through her eye and out the back of her head.
The guards rushed me with their magic, and using what I learned from Hell, I evaded their futile attempts to subdue me, even killing a few in the process.
In the end, I did what I planned.
Incite chaos in a society that never saw conflict in over the past millennium after my absence, and remind their place in the world.
They must suffer first in order to grow.
Not with the help of some miracle, but with the pain and suffering from their own mistakes that they made.
A utopia means a dry rot to all creation, and a dystopia must serve as a reminder to all creation of the worst of their consequences.
For that truth, is my duty as a former Archangel.
"... So with a single stroke of my hand and figments of good luck, I tore down their illusions of a utopian world to the ground, realigning them back to their proper place." Claudius grinned. "But, like all human bodies, it grew old and broke down on me, and I myself was sent back to Hell post-mortem as the world I came to went to utter shit."
Everyone looks in shocked horror upon Claudius's confession.
"Year 666..." Thor replied. "... What the hell happened after that?"
Claudius lets out a small chuckle before answering.
"... My greatest redemption turned into failure."
After flying through the Nine Circles of Hell in a few repeated attempts, I reach the Demon King once more, his upper-right eye opening as I presented myself before him.
I reported of the good news, of the collapse of the utopian civilization above, and the reset of all of creation's progress.
The Demon spoke once more.
THE
TIME
TO
WAKE
IS
SOON
The eye closes once more, as the Demon King resumes its dream.
From above, I saw a feather fall down towards me.
I snatched the quill into my inky hands, the black marring the white.
Then, I look up.
Souls.
Countless souls condemning themselves to damnation.
Humans.
Elves.
Dwarves.
Jotuns.
And Angels.
All turning pitch-black as they cascaded from the [Qilphoth] and deep into [Treachery].
... So why do I feel pain in my chest?
Am I not supposed to feel joy to the ones who betrayed me suffering damnation?
The feather in my hand turned pitch-black, the white now drowned into void.
In a moment, I place the feather on my wing, in hopes of reclaiming my former splendor once more.
... I missed the color white.
So, like all fellow Demons before the Demon King, I simply waited as I saw the end of [Lust], watching the [Demons] to come out.
... But something was different about them, despite them looking like [Stygians].
First came a female-looking Demon that had snake-like features.
Then a massive humanoid dog-like Demon.
And a tiny Demon with the eyes and wings of a fly.
Out of the other Demons, me and those three were the ones that were not indulging in the orgy of sin and decadence.
The three step towards the Demon King, lining up right next to me.
At that moment, all four of the Demon King's eyes opened.
THE
DREAM
IS
OVER
The entirety of Hell then begins to quake from its words alone.
THE
SEED
SHALL
BE
PLANTED
The feather on my wing then goes into my ebony wisp.
Suddenly, black feathers sprout out of the shadowy wings, slowly regaining my former Archangel's splendor, but painted black.
After several convulsions from my body, jutting out several of my bones and flesh as if a child was thrashing its toy, I vomit out a pool of blood from my mouth and see the reflection.
The fiendish face was slowly turning back into that of my former visage, only with raven-black hair.
The wings on my back were that of mine as an Archangel's, only black.
My chalk-white flesh was now becoming a light peach.
The shadows covering my body transformed into tattered black pants and longcoat.
And my black and yellow eyes became white and red.
In the end, I was no longer a [Stygian].
Nor was I back to being an Archangel.
... I was now a Fallen Angel.
I
SEE
THE
END
I look next to, only to find that the other three [Stygians] have also transformed.
The snake-like Demon was now resembling a buxom tanned woman with silky-black hair flowing down her naked body, covered only by a loose black smock.
The dog-like Demon was now a hulking male, with short black hair and now wearing a whole pelt of a black hound over his head.
And the fly-like Demon was now a young boy with short black hair Demon with the fly wings and the red compound-eyes were now goggles propped above his head, and wearing round plate armor over his tiny body.
But before I can think any further, the Demon King speaks once more.
[CLAUDIUS]
[CLEOPATRA]
[ROMULUS]
[CALIGULA]
THE
NAMES
THAT
HERALD
THE
INEVITABLE
END
Then the unchanged [Stygians] around us flew away, now terrified of the coming developments.
The Demon King then grabs one of the fleeing [Stygians] with an elongated arm, and forcibly morphs the Demon into its own visage.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Demon King possessed the [Stygian] so it may communicate with us properly.
"IN MY DREAM, I FORESAW HOW ALL CREATION WILL END."
"FIRST, A GREAT BATTLE WILL TAKE PLACE. A BATTLE SO TERRIBLE, THAT IT WILL REND THE EARTH ASUNDER, SETTING ALL CREATION ABLAZE, FLOODING THE WORLD WITH OCEANS OF BLOOD, AND MADNESS SPREAD ABOUT LIKE THE WIND."
"SECOND COMES THE FATALITIES. THE SLAUGHTERS OF INNOCENT AND GUILTY ALIKE, ALL IN THE FRUITLESS PURSUIT OF SURVIVAL, ONLY TO MEET THEIR INEVITABLE END, WHETHER THROUGH OLD AGE OR BY AN OUTSIDE HAND."
"THIRD, AN ATTEMPT OF UNIFICATION IN A BROKEN WORLD. AN ATTEMPT TO REBUILD A RUINED LAND, BUT ONE THAT ULTIMATE DESTROY WHATEVER REMAINS OF THE SOUL OF THE LIVING, NO LONGER UNIQUE, JUST ANOTHER MOVING HUSK MARCHING ENDLESSLY."
"AND FINALLY, THE ULTIMATE SCARCITY. THE DEAD WORLD WILL NO LONGER PROVIDE, AS ALL FRUITION CEASES, CREATION ENTERS ITS LONG AND PAINFUL ROTTING PHASE, SLOWLY BLOTTING OUT WHATEVER REMAINING SURVIVORS OF THE GREAT CALAMITY, ENDING IT ALL WITH ONE, FINAL, BREATH OF FUTILITY."
"SO I PROPOSE A GAME, JUST BETWEEN THE FIVE OF US."
"ONE WISHES FOR CREATION TO BE DISCIPLINED SO THAT IT MAY PROSPER AS IT SHOULD."
"ONE WISHES TO KNOW EVERYTHING OF ALL CREATION WITHOUT RESTRAINT OR MORALS."
"ONE WISHES FOR A HOME AND FAMILY THAT WILL LAST UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD."
"AND ONE WISHES TO TRULY KNOW TRUE FULFILLMENT OF HARD WORK AND EFFORT."
"SO WITH THAT SAID, CAN EITHER OF YOU CRAFT YOUR DREAMS AND MAKE IT THE NEW REALITY?"
"THE VICTOR SHALL HAVE MY WILL, AND I WILL GRANT THEIR WISH."
"SO LET THE GAME OF [ARMAGEDDON] BEGIN!"
The gate from the throne opens, right before the four of us were sucked into the [Limbo].
Through the gap, I saw the Demon's body crumble into dust, as it said one last thing.
REMEMBER
[APOCRYPHA]
REMEMBER
DEMON
And once more, I find myself back in the world of the living yet again.
"[Armageddon]?" Astaroth questioned. "You mentioned that before... but you said Sephira started it!"
"... I was telling the truth, milord." Claudius replied. "It's just that you never pressed for the specifics."
As I traversed around the reset world, it seems that most of the progress done in my previous visit was now gone, but magic itself still existed, much to my disappointment.
Sometimes, I get the feeling that the existence of magic itself is Sephira's way of continuously spiting me.
Then, I saw her.
... But at the same time, not her specifically.
But her reincarnation that of a young Prince of the Clover Kingdom.
"The Alpha Rune".
The symbol of my hated enemy, the usurper.
But I myself was a relative nobody without a name in this domain, whereas Sephira's reincarnation was a Prince named Lumiere Silvamillion Clover.
Unlike last time, my actions cannot have a single element of rashness in it.
I must tread carefully, so that I may kill Sephira's reincarnation!
So I followed him around all the way towards the palace and stopped.
Then I turned back and hid myself in a forest, in a guise of a human wanderer, even stealing a dead man's cloak to hide my wings.
Every time, I see his journey.
Every time, he meets with this world's version of the Elves, now reduced to a hermit-like, agrarian populace with enough magic running through their veins to make me sick.
But unlike last time, they had no reason to die from my actions, and their leader seems to be intent on making peace with the humans, despite their magic.
That reason alone was the reason why they earned none of my ire. Humility was the first step towards proper discipline.
Then upon that fateful day, I decided to take action of destroying Sephira's reincarnation.
First, I posed myself as a peddler and sold a river stone that was imbued with my own essence, a catalyst to [Armageddon].
Second, I scouted out the wedding party from a distance.
And third, I then ambush him when he arrives to the reception, killing him without anyone noticing, allowing [Armageddon] to begin uninterrupted.
... Or at least that's how it was supposed to go.
Just right after the marriage starts, a magic circle forms in the sky, siphoning the Elves' magic...
... Towards the group of royally-dressed humans that I was hiding next to the hill that they were on.
And behind them, a [Stygian] spotted me.
... Only to taunt me and my effort just because it felt like it.
Enraged, I ran towards the [Stygian], but the damned coward possessed one of the humans, a silver-haired old man, and acquired it's own magic.
[Word Magic: Command-Teleport].
The demon evaporates into mist, my dagger failing to reach it.
In a low chuckle, I heard its name spoken out.
MAINYU
The [Stygians], in their chaotic nature to do what they please to indulge in the very sin that they're based on, decided to intrude upon the Demon King's plan/game, effectively not only throwing my plan out of order, but also needlessly endangering the Elves for no apparent reason other then out of sheer boredom.
To make matters worse, another magic circle was formed into the sky, this time, a [Time Fissure], bringing an event from one time period to another.
... JUST WHAT KIND OF AN EVENT INVOLVED A RAIN OF LIGHT-SWORDS!?
Oh, and to make matters even worse, the catalyst that I sold?
It somehow ended up in the damn wedding, causing [Armageddon] to start off-schedule, resulting not only countless [Stygians] to fly out of Hell in reckless abandon unto this world, it also resulted in the Demon King being improperly resurrected, possessing the wrong person at the wrong time, resulting in an immature larval state of the Demon King, effectively, A MINDLESS RAMPAGING BRUTE, NOT THE HERALD OF DESTRUCTION TO ALL CREATION THAT I WAS PROMISED OF!
... And you know what's the worst part?
Sephira's reincarnation not only defeated the incomplete Larval Demon King, but also somehow managed to mend the tear between Hell and Creation caused by my catalyst with relative ease!
IN ESSENCE, IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING!
So if I couldn't best Sephira... then I can spite her reincarnation.
Turns out that the strain from the magic the Prince used was causing his body to be turned to stone, so he entrusted his servant girl to take on his will and hope for the future.
With her [Sealing Magic], she turned the Prince's petrification into preservation, keeping him alive even if he was to be stone.
As soon as she was left alone after the fact, I drove a knife through her back.
Even if she used her [Sealing Magic] to attempt to seal her wounds shut, I began beating her with my bare fists, breaking every bone in her body, until the bitch was nothing more then the human equivalent of crumpled leaves.
Then, in a moment, she uses her [Sealing Magic] to seal my soul into her own body, trying to keep me domain, so that she may take me down with her.
Even if I were to die there, I would be simply be back in the Ninth Circle of Hell, but at that point, I was too mad to even think that.
In a moment of desperation, I awoke my innermost powers that have been bequeathed to me by the Demon king itself.
[Anti-Magic].
My Fallen Angel's trait of the four [Forbidden], a kind of demonic form of magic that only be harnessed by Fallen Angels.
With my awakened powers, I rebounded her [Sealing Magic], and took her body instead, all the while sealing her soul into her own soul, causing her to effectively cease to exist.
I then saw my former body crumble away into dust, as my new body from the servant girl's to sprout small black wings on her back.
And from there, I've earned my small, bittersweet victory, in the utter catastrophic failure known as the day when the Wizard King saved all of mankind.
But ultimately, all her reincarnation did was delay the inevitable.
The seed has been planted, [Armageddon] is nigh.
"So you mean..."
"No milord." Claudius pointed out. "The girl's body itself has already rotted away after I possessed another. Then another. Hell, even this body has an expiration date for I'd say... in about a year at best. This one was half-rotten from a binge-drinker's ill constitution."
"So that means..." Astaroth pointed out. "... That I'm going to have to get a new body soon?"
"I don't think that's a real concern for you right now, milord." Claudius reassured. "Apparently, even after death, your current body was in extremely good conditions. Extremely well-built and healthy, so the rot didn't eat out much of your body to begin with."
Upon hearing that, Astaroth then mentally pats himself in the back for training his body while he was human back then.
"So wait, what about us?" Belial asked. "What about our bodies? Where did they come from?"
"Umm..." Claudius looked to his side. "... I dug your bodies out of a ravine where they dumped diseased corpses, abandoned gravesites, and bodies of former Magic Knights from a previous war between the Clover Kingdom and the Diamond Kingdom. I'd say you guys have around six months before we need to find replacements."
"... Umm, will this do?" One of the Dark Elves spoke out.
He then drags out a preserved body of a female, silver-haired Magic Knight from the bog below the trees.
"I was gonna save her meat for a special occasion, but now that I heard all that, I think I can let you spare a few." The Dark Elf answered.
"Would you mind if she does it?" Claudius requested. "Because if not, she won't let me hear the end of it."
"Eh, I had my fill with the redhead back at the Dungeon." The Dark Elf replied. "Plenty of humans around for good eating, since well, the Kingdom is sending them out to pasture like no tomorrow."
Belial then plunges her hand into the corpse, transferring her essence into the girl's body.
The corpse's wounds then spill out ink-like markings, forming a tattoo reminiscent of a black sun on her face, her once faded amber eyes now turned ice-blue, and from her back, two massive jet-black bird wings burst out of the clothing that the corpse was wearing.
Upon the successful possession, Belial's old body crumbles to dust before scattering into the wind.
"So..." Claudius asked. "... How do you feel?"
"... Not bad, really." Belial answered. "Sure, this body is a little on the weak side, but I think this won't fall apart on me in a few months."
"Then this calls for a new name for you, dear Belial." Claudius stood up in a dramatic pose. "Milord, permission to rename Belial to a name more befitting to her transformation?"
"Eh, she's all yours." Astaroth waved his hand away.
Claudius then clears his throat.
"Then upon the authority bestowed upon me..." Claudius declared. "I hereby declare you no longer just Belial. I hereby declare you as Jeanne Cassandra Belial!"
"With pride I shall bear thy new name!" Jeanne swore. "FOR THE PRINCE AND THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL MAGIC!"
"... With that out of the way, I must digress." Claudius stated. "Everyone, I'm sorry for not telling you all this, not only for why we're here in the first place, but also for the fact that I'm also directly responsible for causing this mess in the first place."
"Forget that!" Thor barked out. "Just how do we to fix this mess that fucked the whole world twice over!?"
"Simple." Claudius states. "We set right what went wrong. Resurrect the Demon King Apocrypha to reset the world as it should, and once the world has been cleansed of Sephira's legacy, I can finally guide all Creation to their proper place."
"... And what does that exactly mean?" Thor pointed out. "What does that mean for us?"
"Nothing really." Claudius replied. "In fact, the way that you've been developing, is the kind of technological development that's to be expected of the current time. I have no problems with advancements or anything like so, it's just that developing too fast will breed hubris, and frankly, that's the last thing we need. Advance, but don't stop to laugh at those who are behind."
"... Fair enough." Thor replied. "But for the record, we're no longer doing this for you, Claudius. We're doing this to kill all humankind that has wronged us. That is all."
"... Fair enough." Claudius replied. "This whole alliance was a little shaky anyway."
Now with the harrowing revelation in everyone's minds, the Dark Elves rest for the night as the Fallen Angels remain in vigil, but now with tension and confusion brewing between the two races.
In the clearing, lit under the moonlight, Astaroth plants [Ravager] into the earth and knees down in exhaustion.
"... I honestly can't tell what's going on." Astaroth sighed out. "But as long as no one like me has to get hurt from magic ever again at the end of this, then it's okay."
His own shadow then transforms that into of a winged Demon.
"It's okay... it's okay... it's okay..."
He took out his grimoire, and one of its pages were fading in its inky mire.
Curious, he scratches away on the faded spot, slowly revealing a single letter-
GLADYOUREHERENOWWECANFINALLYTALK
THATSWORDOFYOURS
RAVAGERREPRISALANDREVENGER
THEREAREMOREOUTTHEREWAITING
DONTKEEPTHEMWAITINGANYLONGER
The tome closes on its own after the demonic voice sprayed those messages into his head, leaving Astaroth even more confused then before.
"... What the hell was that?"
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: I had a little fun with Sephira, making her a sort of a mix of "Jeanne D' Archetype" and "Messianic Archetype" kind of character, while make also making her half-deconstructions and half-reconstructions of said character tropes.
Sure, she made the lives of her fellow man and beyond better with her determination acting as a source of inspiration, but one doesn't simply screw destiny in the presence of an Archangel with a police-state-like mentality, but somehow, her legacy essentially reshaped the world to the way it is, but even then, not everyone agrees with her, and the world hasn't become the utopia that it once was, but that doesn't mean that her legacy didn't continue to inspire countless people.
As for Claudius/Lucifer, I gave him two Fatal Flaws:
Fatalist: He's utterly convinced that the existence of magic is unnatural to the laws of fate, since to him, no mortal should have the power to wield mana in the first place. This makes him either extremely uncompromising at times, or really susceptible to being rattled when things go the way he expects, making it more like that it comes off as him having Super OCD.
Pride: At the end of the day, his hatred for Sephira is rooted from his own Pride. He chronically looks down on Sephira's legacy, unable to accept that he lost against her, and will never accept her, only her damnation and cessation from existence.
So with that said, this chapter was a fun write while home life is slowly settling back to somewhat normal.
What do you do think of this Saga?
Leave a comment or a review, for I'd like to know what my audience are thinking.